Chicago Cubs Draft History By: WISCGRAD During the 1964 winter meetings, major league teams voted on the draft. Initially four teams opposed the idea, the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals. In the end only the Cardinals voted against the proposal and in 1965 Major League Baseball held its inaugural First-Year Player Draft, also known as the Rule 4 Draft. Initially there were three phases to the draft: a June phase for those college and high school athletes who had just graduated, an August Legion phase for those athletes who completed amateur summer leagues, and a January phase for those high school and college athletes who graduated in the winter. The August phase lasted only two years, and the January phase was terminated after 1986. The Chicago Cubs did not draft a single player in either of the two August drafts, but have participated in each January and June draft since their inception. In analyzing the draft history of the Cubs I have grouped all January and June selections of the same year, following how the data is organized at Baseball Cube. In total there have been 43 distinct draft years for the Chicago Cubs organized by nine different general managers. John Holland presided over the Cubs first 11 drafts. After the brief one-year reign of Salty Saltwell, Bob Kennedy manned the next five drafts, and Dallas Green (1982-1987), Jim Frey (1988-1991), and Larry Himes (1992-1994) followed. The second half of the 1990s was overseen by Ed Lynch. Then after just two years of Andy MacPhail, Jim Hendry took over in 2003 and remains the general manager today. To date the Cubs have drafted 2,100 players. Many of those went unsigned, and while some were subsequently drafted by other teams and eventually made the big leagues, I only focus on those players actually drafted and signed by the Cubs. Of those, 197, or 9%, have reached the major leagues. Because so many of these major leaguers had short careers, I also noted those players who had significant major league careers, defined as five years or more. 94 players, or 4% of those drafted, fit such a criteria. These numbers will change as those drafted recently begin to reach the major leagues. The Cubs have developed the most big league pitchers compared other positions, although this is not surprising given the composition of major league rosters. What is surprising is the notable success in drafting and developing catchers as compared other positions. The complete positional breakdown is below: Statistically speaking, the 1965, 1967, and 2000 drafts were the best at developing major leaguers with 23%, 21%, and 20% of those players drafted eventually being signed by the Cubs and reaching the big leagues. 2000 and 1967 are also the two best drafts for sheer number of big leaguers produced, with 10 each. Excluding recent drafts for which comparison is relatively meaningless, the worst draft was 1988 where only two of 45 players drafted by Jim Frey were signed by the Cubs and eventually made the big leagues, and neither Jessie Hollins nor Kevin Roberson can be considered a significant major league player. The number of players who were drafted and signed by the Cubs and reached the major leagues is shown below for each draft. Despite a half-century of mostly mediocre teams, the Cubs have produced a fair amount of major league talent, although without completing a similar analysis of all other major league teams the achievements of the Cubs in the draft cannot be put into proper context. Nevertheless, the following is an All-Star roster of those players drafted and signed by the Cubs who played in the major leagues. Some players may not have played in the big leagues for the Cubs, but they began they were drafted and signed by the Cubs and began their careers in the their farm system. C Joe Girardi 1-Time All-Star, 1100 Hits in 15 Seasons 1B Mark Grace 3-Time All-Star, 4 Gold Gloves, Career .303 Hitter 2B Scott Fletcher 1376 Hits in 15 Seasons 3B Eric Hinske 2002 Rookie of the Year SS Shawon Dunston 2-Time All-Star, 1597 Hits in 18 Seasons OF Oscar Gamble 1195 Hits in 17 Seasons OF Billy Hatcher 1146 Hits, 218 SB in 12 Seasons OF Joe Carter 5-Time All-Star, 396 HR, 1445 RBI, 2184 Hits, 231 SB DH Rafael Palmeiro 4-Time All-Star, 4 Gold Gloves, 569 HR, 1835 RBI BN Roger Metzger 1 Gold Glove in 10 Seasons BN Rich Amaral Career .276 Hitter Over 10 Seasons as Part-Time Player BN Corey Patterson 821 Hits, 98 HR, 173 SB in First 9 Seasons BN Mel Hall 1171 Hits Over 13 Seasons SP Greg Maddux 8-Time All-Star, 4 Cy Youngs, 350 Wins, 3.12 ERA in 23 Seasons SP Joe Niekro 1-Time All-Star, 221 Wins, 3.59 ERA in 22 Seasons SP Rick Reuschel 3-Time All-Star, 214 Wins, 3.37 ERA in 20 Seasons SP Ken Holtzman 2-Time All-Star, 174 Wins, 3.49 ERA in 15 Seasons SP Burt Hooton 1-Time All-Star, 151 Wins, 3.38 ERA in 15 Seasons CL Lee Smith 478 Saves, 3.03 ERA in 18 Seasons P Jamie Moyer 1-Time All-Star, 232 Wins, 4.22 ERA in 22 Seasons P Larry Gura 1-Time All-Star, 126 Wins, 3.76 ERA in 16 Seasons P Mike Krukow 124 Wins, 3.74 ERA in 14 Seasons P Craig Lefferts 101 Saves, 3.43 ERA in 12 Seasons P Dennis Lamp 3.93 ERA in 1830 Innings as a Reliever P Steve Trachsel 143 Wins, 4.35 ERA in 16 Seasons Other Notables from Recent Drafts C Geovany Soto C Jose Molina 2B Brendan Harris SS Ryan Theriot SP Jon Garland SP Dontrelle Willis SP Rich Hill SP Mark Prior SP Kyle Lohse SP Todd Wellemyer SP Sergio Mitre SP Ricky Nolasco SP Sean Marshall SP Sean Gallagher CL Kerry Wood RP Kyle Farnsworth RP Scott Downs RP Will Ohman RP Michael Wuertz RP Andy Sisco RP Justin Speier A complete listing of all players who reached the major leagues who were drafted and signed by the Chicago Cubs from 1965-present can be found below. Each player’s position is noted, as well as his years of major league experience and the general manager who drafted him. Years of MLB Year Player Position GM Experience 1965 Ken Holtzman P 15 John Holland 1965 Joe Decker P 11 John Holland 1965 Ken Rudolph C 9 John Holland 1965 Garry Jestadt SS 4 John Holland 1965 Jim Williams OF 2 John Holland 1965 Johnny Hairston C 1 John Holland 1965 Rick James P 1 John Holland 1966 Joe Niekro P 22 John Holland 1966 Bill Stoneman P 8 John Holland 1966 Archie Reynolds P 5 John Holland 1966 Jophery Brown P 1 John Holland 1967 Gary Ross P 10 John Holland 1967 Earl Stephenson P 8 John Holland 1967 Terry Hughes SS 5 John Holland 1967 Randy Bobb C 2 John Holland 1967 Jimmy McMath OF 1 John Holland 1967 Gary Lance P 1 John Holland 1967 Darcy Fast P 1 John Holland 1967 Alex Distaso P 1 John Holland 1967 Jim Dunegan P 1 John Holland 1967 Pat Jacquez P 1 John Holland 1968 Oscar Gamble OF 16 John Holland 1968 Matt Alexander 3B 9 John Holland 1968 Rich Nye OF 5 John Holland 1968 Paul Reuschel P 5 John Holland 1968 Dave Lemonds P 4 John Holland 1968 Chris Ward OF 3 John Holland 1969 Larry Gura P 16 John Holland 1969 Billy North OF 11 John Holland 1969 Roger Metzger SS 11 John Holland 1969 Pat Bourque OF 4 John Holland 1969 Jim Johnson 3B 1 John Holland 1970 Rick Reuschel P 20 John Holland 1970 Pete LaCock 1B 9 John Holland 1970 Gene Hiser OF 5 John Holland 1970 Tom Lundstedt C 3 John Holland 1971 Dennis Lamp P 16 John Holland 1971 Burt Hooton P 15 John Holland 1971 Jim Tyrone OF 6 John Holland 1971 Rob Sperring 3B 4 John Holland 1972 Ray Burris P 15 John Holland 1972 Buddy Schultz P 5 John Holland 1972 Mike Gordon C 2 John Holland 1973 Mike Krukow P 14 John Holland 1973 Dave Geisel P 8 John Holland 1973 Joe Wallis OF 5 John Holland 1973 Jerry Tabb 1B 3 John Holland 1974 Scot Thompson OF 8 John Holland 1974 George Riley P 8 John Holland 1974 Mike Sember SS 2 John Holland 1975 Lee Smith P 18 John Holland 1975 Mike Anderson C 9 John Holland 1975 Ed Putnam C 4 John Holland 1976 Ron Davis P 11 Salty Saltwell 1976 Karl Pagel 1B 6 Salty Saltwell 1976 Keith Drumright 2B 4 Salty Saltwell 1976 Greg Keatley C 1 Salty Saltwell 1976 Herman Seqelke P 1 Salty Saltwell 1976 Kurt Seibert SS 1 Salty Saltwell 1976 Steve Davis SS 1 Salty Saltwell 1977 Dan Rohn 2B 4 Bob Kennedy 1977 Randy Martz P 4 Bob Kennedy 1977 Steve Macko 3B 2 Bob Kennedy 1977 Jim Tracy OF 2 Bob Kennedy 1978 Mel Hall OF 16 Bob Kennedy 1978 Bill Hayes C 2 Bob Kennedy 1978 Mark Gilbert OF 1 Bob Kennedy 1979 Scott Fletcher SS 15 Bob Kennedy 1979 Mark Huismann P 9 Bob Kennedy 1979 Dave Owen SS 6 Bob Kennedy 1979 Jon Perlman P 4 Bob Kennedy 1979 Ray Soff P 2 Bob Kennedy 1979 Tom Grant OF 1 Bob Kennedy 1980 Craig Lefferts P 12 Bob Kennedy 1980 Don Schulze P 6 Bob Kennedy 1980 Frtizie Connally 3B 3 Bob Kennedy 1981 Joe Carter OF 16 Bob Kennedy 1981 Darrin Jackson OF 15 Bob Kennedy 1981 Billy Hatcher OF 12 Bob Kennedy 1981 Vance Lovelace P 3 Bob Kennedy 1982 Shawon Dunston SS 18 Dallas Green 1982 Gary Varsho 2B 8 Dallas Green 1982 Jeff Schwarz P 2 Dallas Green 1982 Jamie Allen 1B 1 Dallas Green 1983 Rich Amaral 2B 10 Dallas Green 1983 Jacob Brumfield OF 8 Dallas Green 1983 Mike Capel P 4 Dallas Green 1983 Steve Engel P 1 Dallas Green 1984 Greg Maddux P 22* Dallas Green 1984 Jamie Moyer P 22* Dallas Green 1984 Damon Berryhill C 11 Dallas Green 1984 Dwight Smith OF 8 Dallas Green 1984 Drew Hall P 5 Dallas Green 1984 Jeff Pico P 3 Dallas Green 1984 Greg Liddell OF 1 Dallas Green 1984 Laddie Renfroe P 1 Dallas Green 1985 Rafael Palmeiro 1B 20 Dallas Green 1985 Mark Grace 1B 16 Dallas Green 1985 Doug Dascenzo OF 9 Dallas Green 1985 Rick Wrona C 7 Dallas Green 1985 Kelly Mann C 2 Dallas Green 1985 Joe Kraemer P 2 Dallas Green 1986 Joe Girardi C 15 Dallas Green 1986 Rick Wilkins C 11 Dallas Green